1. Field of the Invention.
This invention relates to hay baling and means therefor and more particularly to means for shearing recompressed hay bales to facilitate handling thereof.
2. Description of Prior Art.
The art of hay baling is well known. A more recent development is the introduction of means for further recompressing conventional bales to reduce the volume thereof to facilitate shipment. This art is exemplified by my apparatus and method for recompressing bales of fibrous material, U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,153. The reduced unit shipping cost achieved by use of this method of recompression makes it economically feasible to ship hay grown in the United States to islands, island nations and other countries overseas where agricultural land is at a premium.
The present invention is a refinement of the art of hay bale recompression. It is in response to end user demands caused by the fact that a recompressed bale is approximately sixteen inches square and oftentimes weighs over one hundred and twenty pounds. The end users find it difficult to manually handle bales weighing that much, and find it very desirable to cut the bale in half to reduce the weight to no more than eighty pounds per unit. It should be recongized that the inventive concept embodied herein is equally adaptable to use with all manners of bales of fibrous material, including straw, cotton and the like.
A recompressed bale of alfalfa, hay, or other similar fibrous material is very dense and difficult to cut. The present technology utilizes a rotary buzz saw similar to the type used in lumber mills for rough sawing dimensional lumber. Some of the problems associated with using a rotary buzz saw for cutting recompressed bales of fibrous material include a substantial amount of extra labor and the cost involved therewith, and the wear and tear on equipment. It is not unusual to have to sharpen the blade of a rotary buzz saw, which is being used for cutting recompressed bales of hay, every few hours.
Means for shearing recompressed bales are not found in the prior art. One of the primary reasons is that it is very difficult to hold a highly compacted bale of fibrous material in position long enough to shear it in half without breaking the bale twine or wires which are under considerable tensile stress and are holding the recompressed bale together. What happens when one attempts to shear a recompressed bale is that the forces imparted to the recompressed bale necessary to shear it are more than sufficient to break the bale twine or wires apart.
However, the conventional art of hay baling discloses means for cutting conventional hay bales in two. Typical of this art is KLEMM, ET AL., U.S. Pat. No. 3,099,203, which discloses means integral with a conventional baler for cutting the hay bale in two. The means therein comprises a stationary blade and a reciprocating blade which coact to shear the bale as it is formed in the baling chamber of a conventional baling machine. The reciprocating blade is carried on the bale plunger which compresses the hay into the baling chamber.
GROENEVELD, ET. AL. U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,481, disclosed means for slicing a large round bale into two parts prior to discharge from the baler. The cutting means comprises a knife blade which may be inserted into the baling chamber to the center thereof and which cuts the bale as it is rotated within the chamber.
MASON, U.S. Pat. No. 2,731,782, discloses a continuous flow baler with a guillotine like knife operating perpendicular the line of extrusion to cut the compressed material into descrete bales.
Conventional hay baling machines generally incorporate some means for shearing the feed material as it enters the baling chamber. Examples of this art include PARADISE, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,688,284; WEBSTER, ET AL., 3,782,275; ROBINSON, JR., ET AL., 3,906,852; and MORRISON, 2,687,690. The purpose of such shearing action is to facilitate loading of the feed material into the baling or compression chamber.
BRADY, U.S. Pat. No. 3,006,272, discloses a hay conditioning device which produce a hay briquette when the material is compressed and fed through a cutter. The cutters are arranged to coact with a plunger to cut the material into roughly cube shapes.
None of the above cited references will work for cutting recompressed bales of fibrous material.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a means for shearing a recompressed bale. It is another object of the invention to provide a means of containing a recompressed bale during the shearing operation so as to prevent it from breaking apart. Another object of this invention is to provide a means whereby the bale is automatically sheared at the conclusion of the recompression process. A final object of this invention is to provide a means for shearing a bale into two separate halves without any additional labor and machinery cost being incurred by the operator.